Residents of a homeless hostel in Oxford City Centre are benefitting from free Internet and computer skills tuition, thanks to the dedication of volunteers.

Homeless people usually have restricted access to computers and the Internet and so are extremely disadvantaged by the ‘digital divide’. This then costs them time, money and can make it harder for them to move forward in life.

Simon House Internet Café is a successful in-house volunteer led-project providing free Internet access and tuition to its residents up to four evenings every week. Simon House is a 52-bed homeless hostel in Oxford’s city centre managed by the A2Dominion Group.

It provides safe and supportive temporary accommodation where homeless people can identify and achieve their goals, in an alcohol and drug free environment. People are helped to address any issues that prevent them from maintaining independent accommodation and finding a meaningful role in society.

Volunteers at the Simon House Internet Café are responsible for setting up a number of laptops in the canteen area which residents have free access to. The computers are used for various functions from social networking and surfing the net, to writing letters and compiling CVs. Volunteers also provide basic computer tuition and support to customers of the Internet Café and are responsible for making sure that the expensive equipment is signed in and out each evening.

Annette Vincent, Internet Café Volunteer, said: “I’ve always been interested in computers, and having some time on my hands at the moment I thought I’d get involved with the Internet Café service. It feels great to be putting something back into Simon House, who have helped me a lot.

“I also enjoy the social aspect of running the sessions and like to feel that I’ve helped people to learn new skills and access information.”

Volunteers are supported through regular group supervision meetings and are signposted towards training opportunities where they can build upon their own IT skills.

Please contact Jeremy Hill, A2Dominion’s Personal and Social Development Trainer at Simon House, by emailing Jeremy.Hill@a2dominion.co.uk if you would like to support this volunteer led-project by donating an unwanted working laptop, or in some other way.